A big station would be simply big. About 80 ships per day manufactured, maybe.

A megastation would be more like 80 ships per second, artificial planets or habitats. If megastation sounds too much like something outta power rangers maybe a hyperstation, or an artificial habitat would be better names?

The difference between a big station and a megastation would be like comparing a fighter to a capital ship. Capital ships are obviously not just giant, scaled up versions of fighters...

Maybe they could have their own economy, similarly to planets? Have them share some of the properties of being a planet?

I think S46 means that these are so large they are special due to the huge scale of whatever they are designed to be used for. They are just scaled up regular stations, but are notable, that because of that, they can outproduce every other station in some relevantly large area combined.

Giving them tertiary effects, like having a planet class economy, being a seat of political power for a suitably impressive swath of space, or having a massive buff applied to the controller would just be topping on the cake to owning a station that can out-do everyone within 5 jumps combined.

Megastations could be command centres or something. Kind of like what a church would be to a parish. Also, when I say a megastation is special, think of your own ways as to how a particular one could be good for a particular purpose, rather than limiting your imagination with what I come up with... ...even if the game is called Limit Theory...

Megastations could be command centres or something. Kind of like what a church would be to a parish. Also, when I say a megastation is special, think of your own ways as to how a particular one could be good for a particular purpose, rather than limiting your imagination with what I come up with... ...even if the game is called Limit Theory...

Very true, the game should be called Boundless Theory instead because the player is certainly not limited in what they can achieve within the game. Or so I hope will be the case when it actually releases.

So you're saying that a capital ship is a giant fighter with a single cockpit and all that?

For all gameplay purposes? Yes.
Its a big ship which may has different weaponry but functions more or less the same.

Ultimalety, we need only a pixel on the screen that has the function of moving around, shoot, mine and trade.
In this sense, everything else is superfuous.

Of course, one can say:

a transporter is different from a fighter, because it has significant cargo, so make trading no only possible, but profitable.

a capital ship is different from a transporter, because it can contain other ships and a selection of some services like repair or manufacturing.

a station is different from a capital ship, because it is normally static within a given reference, even if it has engines to stabilize the orbit, so it is sort of a rendez-vous point being always there. Therefore it contains many people, so has a real trading platform and some extra services like shipyards that are not impossible, but very uncommon on capital ships.

a mega station is different from a station, because it is large enough to have sub-parts, sub-cultures, so many (entry)points with different services and needs, for example. And it looks cool.

a planet is different from a mega-station, because it has a massive economy with inherent production capabilities of raw materials. It is also different to look at. And mostly natural.

But a barren planet is very similar to a mega-station, which is very similar to a cluster of several stations, which is very similar to large capital ships, which is very similar to a large cargoship which is very similar to a low maneuverability, high bulk fighter.

What's the point? Diversity in graphics, behavior, labels all bring something to an infinite universe, and all categories are always artificial and have grey zones at the margins. Do you want to erase the word metropolis from the english language because it is just a big city? Erase city because it is just a big village? Erase village because it is just several houses? When does a house become a palace? Does not the world palace bring you a different mental image than a "large, luxurious house"?
The important is that a label wakes a thought process, a mental image. Landing on a mega-station will feel different, because it is uncommon and speaks to the imagination. It does not need any further justifitcation, IMHO.

What i care about is how megastations are mechanically different from a Station writ large that they need independent implementation.
Which is what 46 asked for, them getting implemented.
There is nothing to implement if the only thing that separates the two concepts is scale.

What i care about is how megastations are mechanically different from a Station writ large that they need independent implementation.
Which is what 46 asked for, them getting implemented.
There is nothing to implement if the only thing that separates the two concepts is scale.

Then what about the multiple entry point as typical behavior, besides amazing graphics, semantics and the impression of a rich universe?

What does "multiple entry point" do?
A station doesnt need to be special to have two hangar bays :V

Is there more than one station in the game? If yes, are they all the same? If no, then obviously, there are differences in what individual stations bring to gameplay.
Now you package (part of) this diversity within one single structure, meaning for example you have poor quarters with high crime and illegal markets, rich quarters with luxury items, a part of the station belonging to the Asshhhtr'kh sub-species that due to its limited sensory frequency range make spaceship that have this special cobalt-blue shine that are sooo trendy in Akrub system and beyond.

But as this diversity is localised in one station (a difference to a collection of stations nearby), you can go from one to the other without taking your ship, so without the limitations inherent to a ship (e.g. cargo size; allow for gameplay without flying). It also means that there is a larger diversity of traffic in the system, and the size of the attached industry, services and fleet make such places landmarks for logisitical and strategic point of views.

You can call one Spacestructure of Type 3.5 (as between station of type 3 and planets of type 4), if you prefer, but...

CSE wrote: besides amazing graphics and the impression of a rich universe?

I have no idea how a station with special labeling would change either of those.

Then, my friend, I am sorry for you. This means your experience will be so much more limited, if concentrating exclusively on mechanism and utility and not on label and poesy. No game can beat your interior imagination, it's a free add-on!
Trantor is both "a planet-wide megapolis" and "an ensemble of habitats and attached utilities that can host 1267769871254 individuals", but somehow the latter seem more dry and less alive (but would be cool and make for diversity to indicate a robotic society, for instance).